London Revivals of 'Porgy' and Cabaret Extend to Fall '07

Whatonstage.com reports that the high-profile London revivals of Porgy and Bess and Cabaret are extending into fall of 2007.

Trevor Nunn's adaptation of the Gershwin classic will play seven months longer at the Savoy Theatre through October 27th, while Rufus Norris' staging of the Kander and Ebb musical, originally set to close in April, will play through September 29th at the Lyric Theatre.

The 1935 work Porgy and Bess, which features music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Heyward and Ira Gershwin and a book by Heyward (based on his and Dorothy Heyward's Porgy), concerns the romance between the title characters, two African-American denizens of poverty-stricken Catfish Row in Charleston, South Carolina.  Tony-winner Nunn has received mostly positive reviews for his two-and-a-half hour adaptation, which features - in addition to a shortened length - new, jazzier orchestrations (by Gareth Valentine).  The production stars Clarke Peters and Nicola Hughes in the title roles.

Cabaret is set in the Kit Kat Klub in Weimar-era Berlin, and concerns flamboyant cabaret singer Sally Bowles, who blinds herself to the political terrors just around the corner.  The 1966 Broadway classic features music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb and a book by Joe Masteroff (based on Christopher Isherwood's The Berlin Stories).  Starring in the production are Anna Maxwell Martin as British chanteuse Sally Bowles, James Dreyfus as the Emcee, Sheila Hancock (Sweeney Todd, Annie in the West End) as Fraulein Schneider and Michael Hayden (Cabaret, Festen, etc. on Broadway, Carousel in London and on Broadway) as Cliff.